The Tragic Story Of Outpost Restrepo Sums Up The Whole Afghan War

If it wasn't the sheer amount of bombs dropped (more than in the rest of Afghanistan combined at one point), it was the number of American lives consumed during brutal, most often daily fire fights — usually for a matter of feet and inches.

The hard-fought swath of ground in this instance was Combat Outpost Restrepo, an offshoot of a bigger outpost, and more importantly, an offshoot won following a brutal fight in the wake of Juan "Doc" Restrepo's death in combat.

Closing Korengal Outpost in Kunar Province, a powerful symbol of some of the Afghan war's most ferocious fights, and a potential harbinger of America's retreat, is a tacit admission that putting the base there in the first place was a costly mistake.

It cost 37 soldiers to be exact. Afghanistan has cost more than 2,100, and now America's gearing up to leave, while citizens begin to openly wonder: was that a costly mistake as well?

Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington spent several months filming the soldiers at Restrepo. What follows is a visceral take on combat in Afghanistan's most dangerous strip of land.

And it wasn't long before their first firefight. They responded with helicopter support.

And 120mm Mortars.

Captain Kearney gives the overview of what they are up against.

He points to his map showing the outpost. "No s---, every time [our soldiers] cross the the 62 grid line, they get in contact." Basically, if they walk less than a mile from their base, they are guaranteed to get ambushed.

Captain Kearney's bosses wanted to hear what was happening in the valley.

Kearney is blunt as he points to the southern approach. "This is the war zone," he says.

Kearney: "This is where the majority of the population lives, and probably about 90% of the fighting." He points out a ridge to the left called 'Honcho Hill' and says, "That's the enemy limit of advance. We can't go further south than that."